Looper carrier for sewing machine



June 17, 1969 ARMSTEAD, JR 3,450,078

LOOPER CARRIER FOR SEWING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1968 Sheet of 2 FIG. I

as GEORGE' B. ARMSTEAD, JR.

BY I

ATTORNEYS.

June 17, 1969 G. B. ARMSTEAD, JR

LOOPER CARRIER FOR SEWING MACHINE Sheet 2 012 Filed March 18, 1968 FIG. 5

INVENTO R GEORGE B. ARMSTEAD, JR.

ATTORNEY 6'.

United States Patent US. Cl. 112162 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A looper carrier for an overedge sewing machine having a pair of spaced needles aligned in the direction of feed of a work piece through the machine. The looper carrier includes an arm having a pair of spaced looper sockets formed therein for receiving and supporting the shanks of a pair of loopers. A pair of threaded sockets are formed in the arm with the respective threaded sockets each intersecting one of the respective looper sockets, and .a set screw mounted in each threaded socket to engage and releasably lock the shank of a looper in the looper sockets independently.

This invention relates to sewing machines and particularly concerns looper carriers of the type incorporated in overedge sewing machines.

In certain overedge sewing machines, such as the wellknown Merrow machine illustrated, for example, in United States Patent 2,931,328, a needle, a lower looper, and an upper looper are actuated in synchronization to form overedge stitches. Due to the complex movement of the component part of such a machine, there are practical limitations on the maximum speed at which the machine may be operated. In my copending application Ser. No. 447,158, now Patent No. 3,373,706, an overedge sewing machine of this general type is disclosed which permits the formation of an overedge seam at substantially increased rates without operating the machine stitch forming mechanism at excessive speeds. This increased rate is made possible by providing a pair of spaced needles supported in alignment with one another along the direction of feed of a work piece through the machine, and providing separate lower and upper loopers for each of the needles so that two stitches are formed simultaneously.

The simultaneous formation of two sequences of stitches in overlying relation with one another to form a single overedge seam in the manner described in my copending application requires that the individual stitches of each sequence be positioned in carefully controlled relation to one another. This requires the elements employed to form the two separate sequences of stitches to be positioned in very close relation to one another. Regardless of this close proximity and speed of operation of the individual elements, it is desirable that they be separately mounted so that they may be adjusted or replaced, as necessary, without disturbing the adjustment of other elements. Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved looper carrier for an overedge sewing machine. Another object is to provide an improved looper carrier having means for supporting two loopers independently of one another.

Another object is to provide an improved sewing machine employing upper and lower looper carriers each having means for independently supporting two loopers.

In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects one feature of the invention resides in providing a looper carrier having a body supported for pivotal movement about an axis substantially parallel to the direction of movement of an article through the machine, and an arm projecting outwardly from the body of the carrier. A pair of substantially parallel looper sockets are formed in the arm to receive and support the shank of a removable looper element. A pair of spaced, parallel, threaded sockets are formed in the front face 'of the arm with the respective threaded sockets each intersecting one of the looper sockets. A set screw is threadably mounted in each of the threaded sockets to releasably lock the shank of a looper in the respective looper sockets.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view, partially in section, of an overedge sewing machine showing looper carriers embodying the invention in its preferred form, certain elements of the machine being omitted for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper looper carrier shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the upper looper carrier taken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the upper looper carrier taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lower looper carrier shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a back elevation view carrier;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the lower looper carrier taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is an end view, partially in section, of the machine shown in FIG. 1 and illustrating the relation of the loopers and looper carriers to other parts of the machine.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the invention is illustrated .as embodied in a well-known Merrow overedge sewing machine, characteristically including a machine frame 10 which supports lower and upper cam cylinders 11 and 12, respectively, for rotation about spaced parallel axes extending longitudinally of the machine frame. As shown in FIG. 9, frame 10 includes a cap 13 secured to the front of the frame, as by screws (not shown). Cap 13 supports an upper looper carrier 14 for pivotal movement about a stud 15 by cam rollers 16, 17 positioned within cam grooves 18, 19 respectively of the upper .and lower cam cylinders. A lower looper carrier 20 is supported on frame cap 13 for pivotal movement about a stud 21 by a cam roller 22 positioned within a cam groove 23 in lower cam cylinder 11. A stud 24 on the end of frame 11 (see FIG. 9) pivotally supports a needle carrier 25 carrying a pair of curved needles 26, 27

of the lower looper lower looper carrier 3 and manipulated by a link 28 connected between the car.- rier 25 and an eccentric pin 30 carried on the end of the upper cam cylinder shaft 31.

The needles 26, 27 are spaced from one another in alignment along the direction of feed of a work piece through the machine. As the cam cylinders 11, 12 are rotated about their respective axes, the needles 26, 27 are oscillated about the axis of the stud 24 and the lower looper carrier 20 is oscillated about stud 21 to carry a pair of lower loopers 32, 33 (see FIG. 7) across the path of needles 26, 27 respectively. At the same time, upper loo-per 14 is reciprocated by the cylindrical cams to carry a pair of upper loopers 34, 35 (see FIG. 4) in a path crossing the paths of the lower loopers 32, 33 respectively and the needles 26, 27 respectively. Thus, the lower looper 32 cooperates with the needle 26 and the upper looper 34 to form a first sequence of stitches, and the lower looper 33 cooperates with upper looper 35 and needle 27 to form a second sequence of stitches, the twosequences of stitches defining an overedge seam in the manner described in my co-pending application, mentioned above.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, the features of the present invention which are embodied in the upper looper carrier 14 will be described in detail. The looper carrier comprises a body portion 40 which incorporates a sleeve bearing 41 which cooperates with the stud 15 for supporting the looper carrier for its pivotal movement. Integrally formed with the body 40, and extending outwardly therefrom, is an arm 42 having formed therein a pair of parallel, axial looper sockets 43, 44, with the looper sockets being spaced along, and extending substantially perpendicular to, the longitudinal axis of bearing 41. Preferably looper sockets 43, 44 extends substantially the full length of arm 42 and the bores defining these sockets may extend completely through body 40, as illustrated in FIG. 4, if desired. A raised shoulder 45 is provided on the front face of arm 42, and a pair of threaded sockets 46, 47 are formed in the shoulder 45 in perpendicular relation to the looper sockets. Threaded socket 46 intersects looper socket 43 while socket 47 extends through looper socket 43 to intersect looper socket 44. Threaded socket 46 is spaced radially outward from socket 47 so that a set screw 48 threaded into socket 46 will engage and clamp the shank portion of looper 34 within looper socket 43. Looper 34 has a shorter shank portion than looper 35 so that a set screw 49 may be threaded into socket 47 and extend completely through the radially inner portion of socket 43 to engage and releasably clamp the shank portion of looper 35 within socket 44. As is apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4, the axes of looper sockets 43, 44 and threaded sockets 46, 47 are contained within a common plane which may also contain the longitudinal axis of the bearing 41. The arrangement is such, however, that it is possible to adjust or replace either of the loopers 34, 35 individually without disturbing the adjustment of the other. Further, the set screws 48, 49 are both accessible from the front of the machine which makes it possible to adjust or replace the loopers while the looper carrier is installed on the machine.

Referring now to FIGS. -8, it is seen that the lower looper carrier 20 incorporates the same features of the invention embodied in the upper looper carrier 14, with the lower looper carrier comprising a body portion 50 having a sleeve bearing 51 for pivotally supporting the looper carrier on the stud 21. Carrier 20 also includes an arm 52 extending outwardly from body 50, in laterally offset relation to the axis of bearing 51. A pair of looper sockets 53, 54 are formed in the arm 52 from the outer end thereof and extend axially into the arm in parallel spaced relation to one another in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of bearing 51. A shoulder 55 is formed on the front face of arm 52, and a pair of threaded sockets 56, 57 are formed in the shoulder 55, with the threaded sockets extending substantially perpendicular to the looper sockets 53, 54. Threaded socket 56 is spaced outward from socket 57, and intersects the looper socket 53. Socket 58 extends completely through looper socket 53 and intersects looper socket 64. Set screws 58, 59 are mounted in the sockets 56, 57, respectively, to firmly anchor loopers 32, 33 in the looper carrier 20 in the manner described above with regard to the upper looper carrier 114.

As in the case of the upper looper carrier, the axis of the looper sockets 53, 54 and the threaded sockets 56, 57 are preferably in a common plane. Also, the set screws are accessible from the front of the machine, making it possible to adjust or replace the lower loopers individually while the looper carrier is mounted in the machine.

A sewing machine employing two spaced needles aligned in the direction of feed of a work piece through the machine and embodying lower and upper looper carriers according to the present invention may be employed to form any of the stitches described in my copending application, mentioned above. Further, the improved looper carriers of this invention makes it readily possible to adapt any Merrow overedge sewing machine to utilize the method disclosed in my copending application.

I claim:

1. In an overedge sewing machine, a looper carrier comprising a body, bearing means for supporting said body for movement in a path substantially perpendicular to the path of travel of a work piece through the machine, an arm extending from said body, a pair of substantially parallel bores formed in a said arm in laterally spaced relation to one another in a plane substantially perpendicular to said looper body path and defining a pair of looper sockets, said looper sockets each being adapted to receive and support the shank of a looper, and looper retaining means for independently engaging and retaining the shank of a looper in each of said looper sockets.

2. The looper carrier defined in claim 1 wherein said looper retaining means comprises a pair of threaded sockets formed in said arm in substantially perpendicular relation to said looper sockets with one of said threaded sockets intersecting one of said looper sockets and the other of said threaded intersecting the other of said looper sockets, and a set screw threaded into each of said threaded sockets to engage and releasably lock the shank of a looper positioned in each of said looper sockets.

3. The looper carrier defined in claim 2 wherein said threaded sockets are formed in said arm from the same side surface thereof in parallel spaced relation to one another, said threaded sockets being offset from one another along the length of said looper sockets.

4. The looper carrier defined in claim 3 wherein the longitudinal axis of said looper sockets and said threaded sockets are contained within a single plane.

5. The looper carrier defined in claim 4 wherein said bearing means supports said body for pivotal movement about an axis substantially parallel to the path of travel of a work piece through the machine.

6. In an overedge sewing machine including a pair of spaced needles, a needle carrier supporting said needles in alignment in the direction of feed of a work piece through the sewing machine, means for driving said needle carrier to drive said pair of needles to simultaneously penetrate the workpiece, said looper means cooperating with said needles to form an independent sequence of stitches with respective threads carried by said needles, the improvement wherein said looper means comprises, in combination, a looper carrier including a body portion, bearing means for supporting said body portion for movement in a path substantially perpendicular to the path of travel of a work piece through the machine, an arm extending from said body portion, a pair of substantially parallel bores formed in said arm in laterally spaced relation to one another in a plane substantially parallel to the path of movement of an article through the machine and defining a pair of looper sockets, said looper sockets each being adapted to receive and support the shank of a looper, and looper retaining means for independently engaging and retaining the shank of a looper in each of said looper sockets.

7. In an overedge sewing machine according to claim 6 the further improvement wherein said looper retaining means comprises, a pair of threaded sockets formed in said arm in substantially perpendicular relation to said looper sockets with one of said threaded sockets intersecting one of said looper sockets and the other of said threaded sockets intersecting the other of said looper sockets, set screw means mounted in each of said threaded sockets to engage and lock the shank of a looper in each of said looper sockets, and means for pivoting said looper carrier about its bearing means in synchronization with movement of said pair of spaced needles.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 0 JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 112218, 226 

